The dove.

This amazing bird is known by pretty much everyone. If you ask a Christian what they are, they will likely say that they are sign of peace or a sign of the Holy Spirit. But I wonder if they also know that the dove is also a bird that will fight until its death?

Insane, I know.

As a Christian, I see the dove as a symbol and something that represents peace. As a Presbyterian, I am most familiar with the dove as a part of our cross, descending down like the Holy Spirit did in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus of Nazareth.

I have a hard time seeing the dove as a symbol of peace and knowing that doves will actually fight to their deaths over something such as being too cramped in a space or fighting over something. It’s a paradox that I find my hands are too small to hold. Because, when I really think about it, I don’t want these two things to exist at once: peace and the readiness to fight. But they exist. Just like the paradox that are Christians.

We call for peace but we fight wars. We call for justice but we funnel our money into guns and oppressive systems. We call for food justice and equal pay, but so many starve and work jobs that will never pay them enough to put food on their tables.

Like the dove, we are a paradox. We want the peace that the dove brings, yet we live into the violence that the dove is capable of.

I wonder what would happen if we refused to live into paradox.